


Blocks

by Chakahlah



Series: Harry Potter_Hermione prompts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:27:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chakahlah/pseuds/Chakahlah
Summary: Hermione discovers something about Harry and does what she can to help fix it
Series: Harry Potter_Hermione prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691674
Kudos: 24





	Blocks

Title: Blocks

Author: Chakahlah

Characters: Harry, Hermione

Pairings: None

Warnings: Hints of neglect

Blocks

Hermione sat on her bed in her dorm room at Hogwarts deep in thought. Her year mates, who had now shared a room with her for just over a year and a bit, were used to this and continued their pre-bed routine of gossip. They knew from experience that she wasn’t to be disturbed when thinking; not that she joined in their discussions in the first place, but the look in her eye this time assured them she was thinking over something more important than who the latest witch seen leaving the Head boy’s room was. It would have shocked them to know that her thoughts weren’t even on school work like they usually were.

No; the wild-haired brunette’s thoughts were on a conversation she had recently taken part in with her best friends. Both Harry and Ron were from old wizard families, though Harry was muggle raised, while she was muggleborn. She had been visiting with a friend of her mother’s who had a toddler when her curiosity struck. What type of toys do wizard children play with?

She had originally decided to ask Ron on the trip back to school, but it had been wiped from her mind over the boys driving Mr Weasley’s car to the school. The question had returned to her the previous night and so had asked her red-headed friend during lunch, while explaining what was normal play things for mon-magical children. It had broken her heart when she noticed the look of confused interest on her other, and arguably best, friend’s face as she described the toys of her childhood.

Ron, who was hands down, the most unobservant, oblivious idiot in her life, then turned to Harry and asked him what he had played with. Harry’s response of ‘a broken crayon, a handful of half-melted army men and the spiders who called his cupboard home’ had Ron turning paler than any ghost in the castle and Hermione going red in the face as an anger-fuelled rant formed.

Luckily, Hermione managed to swallow the rant before it started; She didn’t want to make Harry more uncomfortable than he already had been. Instead, she turned the question back on Ron, who regaled the both of them with tales of flying on kid brooms, playing tag with his siblings and catch-the-apple whenever the ball their mother had transfigured, returned to its original form.

Pavarti, who had been listening in, told the three of them about the toys she and Padma had. It was no surprise that Pavarti had an obsession with the magical equivalent of a Barbie doll, which allowed the person playing with it to cut its hair, cover it in some form of powder and ointment as make up as well as dress it up, only for it to return to normal after a solid hour of no play.

Padma, on the other hand, seemed to have been fond of board games, puzzles that had obstacles in them that had to be solved or removed before they allowed you to continue and a learning wand that lit up whenever you got a movement correct.

It had been then that lunch had finished and her mind had once again been consumed by the wonders and delights of learning about magic, forcing everything else from her mind until after the evening meal. Homework had then taken up the forefront of her mind and she had badgered both boys until they joined her at a low-set table with their own work. As usual, Harry complied with a fond eyeroll and a small smile that let her know he truly was happy someone card about whether he passed or not. She suspected he viewed her as some kind of mix of mother and older sister, and only acted like he was annoyed at her actions because it was ‘expected’ of him. Ron, meanwhile, huffed and grumbled and snarked the entire time.

She’d allowed the red-head to distract Harry roughly an hour into their time, knowing that the black-haired teen would return to his work in the middle of the night when nightmares woke him.

It wasn’t until now that she remembered Harry’s words and the emotions they invoked in her. She always had suspected the life he led with his aunt and uncle wasn’t the best it could be, but couldn’t prove it. Harry wasn’t saying anything and as she had no proof, she could do nothing but make sure he knew she was there for him when he needed her.

That was what was keeping her mind active tonight. She was trying to come up with a plan to make sure Harry knew she was there, but, so far, nothing had come to her. With a deep sigh of frustration, she rose to her feet, grabbed her ever-present Quill and roll of parchment and made her way down stairs. Maybe her parents could help her in this

~~~pleasestaysafe~~~

It took six days for Hermione to get the reply from her parents and as soon as she got it, she left the table to read it. She was happy she did because the second paragraph explained why the reply took so long.

Knowing that their daughter had never over exaggerated anything before, the two adults decided to do a bit of investigating and had found some rather disturbing things. They didn’t tell her what they had found, but they had assured her that the proper authorities had been notified. A dot point list was also added as a postscript of ideas for her to try.

Taking the time to read through the list, Hermione mentally crossed off those she knew wouldn’t work before selecting one to try. It would be a long process, her parents had informed her, but she was determined to help in whatever way she could.

Two nights later, she got the opportunity to put her new plan into action. She had woken to use the bathroom and found Harry in the Common-room bent over his potions book. Mentally wincing, Hermione returned to her room for a book before quietly settling next to him. Potions meant his nightmare was a bad one. After several moments of pure silence, Hermione spoke.

“Want to talk about it?” she asked softly, not looking at the boy next to her.

“Not really,” he answered just as soft, taking his cue from her and keeping his eyes on his work.

Hermione made a soft noise of affirmation to indicate she heard him.

“You know where I am if need be,” she responded several page turns later. Out the corner of her eye, she saw the fond smile he shot her way before returning to his text.

There was silence for the next hour as Harry roughly scribbled out the rest of his assignment.

“Is there anything that you wish for?” Harry asked as he stared at his conclusion with unfocused eyes.

“Lots of things,” Hermione replied. “I wish I knew you in muggle school because I wouldn’t have been so lonely. I wish there was a cure for uncurable diseases, and I also wish there were more hours in the day so I could learn more.”

Harry laughed at the last one, making her grin. That was what she had been aiming for.

“I wish I was normal,” Harry stated after he calmed down and was quiet for a few moments. “No Boy-Who-Lived. No Dursleys. No rivals. Just plain, old Harry.”

“But you are just Harry,” Hermione stated, putting her book down for the first time. “You always _have_ been ‘just Harry’ to me, even if it came across otherwise when we first met. And you are special, Harry, whether you like it or not.”

Seeing him scowl, she flicked his nose, making him look at her confused.

“None of that! I don’t mean in the ‘Boy-Who-Lived’ way. You are such a nice person. You try to be nice to everyone and you are so selfless it is unbelievable. It is a privilege for me to be your friend and if I could I would tell mum and dad to adopt you.”

Hermione leant in and whispered conspiriously, “I really wanted a little brother when I was younger, but mum and dad refused to buy me one.’

Harry laughed again as Hermione sat back before giving a yawn as exhaustion hit. Seeing this, Hermione packed up both their things and helped Harry up to his bed.

“I wou’d’ve like be your bruver,” Harry slurred, almost asleep. “Cou’d play wiv blocks ‘gever.”

Hermione smiled fondly at her best friend. “Good night, Harry.”

“Nigh’.”

~~~Raiseatoastforouressentialworkers~~~

A few months later, on Christmas morning, Harry opened his presents and gaped at the large contained of blocks he had received. Slowly he raised his eyes to meet those of his female friend and slowly a large smile grew. An answering one grew on Hermione’s face and they both ran down stairs to play with them.


End file.
